Wisconsin Library Stories

Not long ago, David Schultz struggled to manage a growing janitorial business without the use of a personal computer.

Then he got a computer from one of the world's richest men.

Schultz now enjoys virtually unlimited access to technology in a place once thought to be rendered obsolete by computers -- a public library.

"Being that I don't have one at home, this is pretty nice," the 45-year-old business owner said as he sat down to update his client list on a desktop computer at the Waukesha Public Library.

The Waukesha library is among dozens in Wisconsin that have received grants for computer hardware and software from a charitable foundation funded by billionaire Bill Gates.

Since the grant program began about 10 years ago, libraries in Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha and elsewhere have received a combined $4 million, resulting in more than 800 new personal computers becoming available statewide.

Read more here.

Libraries across the state, including those in north central Wisconsin, are reaching out to improve their service to the state's Hispanic communities. "This is a population that's growing, and they use the library like anyone else," said Jamie Matczak, who works with Hispanic Outreach Library Action, or HOLA! Project.

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